Semi-obligatory self-disclosure that the views expressed herein are my own opinions, and do not represent any other entity.
I've been fortunate enough to have some great teachers, leaders, and opportunities as I've moved through academia and my professional career. Encountered along the way have been nuggets of advice proven to be valuable, effective, and actionable. After a conversation with several friends in a shared writing community, I realized how lucky I was to have been given that advice I took for granted, and sat down to try and articulate it for others to benefit from as well. Ready? Here it is!
Hopefully, you know the basics – give yourself cushion to travel and arrive a few minutes early ('few' means 10, not 30, even if this means hanging out in the parking lot for 20 minutes psyching yourself up), turn off your cell phone, etc. and so forth.
But what about when it comes to theactualquestions?
1. Have at least four experiences in your back pocket that you can talk about comfortably and quickly.
These should be times where you excelled through hard work, accomplishments you’ve had, successes you remember strongly, etc. Ideally, these will be in the context of whatever you’re interviewing for (work experiences for work interview, school experiences for school interview) but it’s okay to have few that aren’t. At a minimum, be able to talk (succinctly) about how those experiences allowed you to demonstrate:
- Time management
- Leadership
- Problem-solving
- Communication
These areincredibly commonbehavioral-based topics. Behavioral-based interviewing is predicated on the belief that the best predictor offutureperformance ispastperformance, so if a company's work environment is fast-paced or full of prioritization, they'll want to know how you’ve handled that in the past. The other reason for these in particular is that if you have a teeny bit of a script, you have a starting point to flex if they ask you about prioritization (similar to time management), persuasion (similar to leadership), using your best judgement (problem-solving/decision-making), etc. etc. Try not to use the same experience for each question - mix it up.
Don't think you have any of these experiences? Trust me - you do! It's just a matter of shining the right light on them. For example, what about things like ‘managing tight deadlines’ and ‘balancing needs of multiple stakeholders’ and ‘project management’? Chances are, if you have work experience at all, you have this. Are you a teacher? You had high-performing and low-performing students, department heads, parents, coworkers, etc. In other words, multiple stakeholders whose needs you had to balance. Were you a customer service rep? You met tight deadlines and delivered on/exceeded quotas while consistently maintaining a high quality CSAT score. Project management? Almost anything you created, with input from others, was probably a project - did you design a marketing campaign? Project. Did you develop a course? Project. Did you update a new hire orientation program? Project.
It's important not to stretch the truth. Don’t say you built databases if you didn’t build databases, or say you're trained in project management if you're not. Don’t say you managed multiple stakeholders if the only input that mattered was you and your immediate boss’s. This is about looking at your experiences in different lights, not about making them into things they weren’t. Be adaptive, not dishonest - phrase your experiences through the lens of the job posting’s language, and see if they align. With some practice articulating your top successes, you will likely find they do.
2. Use the STAR approach to frame your experience – Situation, Task, Action, Result
The STAR approach helps your answers stay focused. If they ask you ‘tell me about a time where you demonstrated initiative’ you can say:
- I had a group project for XYZ class (Situation)
- We had to do a group presentation on ABC topic (Task)
- I felt encouraged to do something out of the box, so rather than just do a traditional slide deck, I persuaded my team to do an interactive skit. Itook the initiativeto write the script early, presented it to them for feedback, and worked with them on revisions. (Action you took) - this should be where the 'meat' of your answer is, and your interviewer should be able to follow along step by step what you did.
- The teacher really enjoyed that we took a risk, and rewarded us with a high grade. From that experience, I learnedabout [working with different personalities, time management, taking calculated risks, etc] (Result of the action you took).
Practice these kinds of answers with your four-five situations from above.Your answer doesn't need to be long--in fact, rambling can be counterproductive--but it needs to be complete, and the STAR method can help you be both. You can search fairly easily for common behavior-based questions to practice. That said, not every company uses them, and more technical roles may focus on those technical skills, so keep that in mind!
3. Take a deep breath
I mean that literally. Silence is never ever as long as it feels in your head. Seriously! If you need a second, it’s okay to say, “Good question, can I have a second to consider it?” or you can repeat the question back to buy a few seconds to think, “A time when I motivated others? Let me see.” Your interviewers know this process is stressful and hard, and most of them are going to be sympathetic to that. No matter how much you prepare, theywillask you something that makes you go blank for a second or more. Know that’s gonna happen, and know it’s gonna be okay! Breathe, straighten your shoulders and spine (good posture does wonders for your confidence) think through STAR, and speak. What feels like an agonizing stretch of forever for you is really no big deal to the other person - promise. So take your time.
4. Use their language
This is a fun one I learned from Dr. Shenk at Iowa State University (go Cyclones!) in a Shakespeare class, and I use it all the time. Open up a conversation between Romeo and Juliet, and you’ll see that they constantly use words the other one used in the sentences prior. Shakespeare did this to show that they were listening to one another and on the same page. Contrast that to Juliet and her mother where hardly any verbiage overlaps showing that they are not listening and communicating on the same wavelength. You want to be on the same wavelength as your interviewer. This is especially valuable in written applications, but applies verbally as well. Don’t be blatant or gratuitous, just keep it in mind.
What does this look like?
If they ask you about a time when you problem-solved, use the phrase ‘I solved the problem’ at some point. Again, practice helps. This can be valuable in updating your resume and cover letter to get the interview. In the interview itself, try and remember key verbs from the posting.
5. BE HONEST.
Always be honest. If they ask you if you like working in a fast-paced environment and you lie, you’ll all be miserable in six months. It can be very easy to fall prey to the panic of ‘gotta get a job’ but maybe one more interview for therightfit is worth it, or you’re just wasting time and will have to repeat this all later, with the bonus of explaining why you left a new job a few months in.
In particular, don't give a false compliment answer to the old chestnut, "what is your greatest weakness". By which I mean nonsense non-answers like "oh gosh I just work too hard" or "I'm just too much of a perfectionist". Just don’t. Don't do it. Your interviewer, if they have ever interviewed anyone, ever, will see through it and will have to make a great effort to not wrinkle their nose at you. They may even suspect a lack of self-awareness, which is not attractive in candidates, no matter how clever you think you're being.
Give a real, thoughtful, and short answer. One. Do not launch into a self-deprecating list. Maybe you struggle with finishing details, or communicating peer-to-peer, or maybe you just straight up don’t have enough experience. Be honest. Then spin it to a positive future vision, tell them how you areactivelyworking to overcome that weakness.
- “I’m great at the bulk 90%, but I struggle with getting that last 10% of detail work done because I get excited to move onto the next project. That said, I’ve been learning from my detail-oriented peers, and I’m working on partnering with them more to improve my ability to slow down and focus, something I would continue in a new environment.”
- “I don’t have experience on a large business scale, but I'm a quick learner and I feel my experiences in the classroom/with the smaller business will translate well.”
Fortunately, this question seems to be falling out a fashion, but it's still not a bad idea to know your answer (which we'll get to in a minute).
6. It’s all sunshine and roses – even when it wasn’t
Neversay anything negative about a prior boss, coworker, or company. Again, don’tlie, just pick a different focus, ideally, a positive about the new place and position that isn't just financial/location/benefit-based. For example, “Why did you leave your last job” - rather than say “because so-and-so was a JERK and they only paid me peanuts” say “I wanted to move towards an opportunity where I could better use my skills in communication paired with my interest in saving the whales, which is why I am grateful for the chance to speak with you about this position, which nicely brings those passions into the every day routine.” Strive for neutral over negative.
7. Know Thyself
If your interviewer is at all worth their salt, they've read your resume and/or application already. So when someone asks you ‘tell me about yourself’ (and they will) don’t recite your resume. You have a limited opportunity to showcase yourself, and that's duplicative. Give them something new! Something more! Context! Instead of ‘I went to school for…’ say ‘I studied [topic] because I’ve always had a passion for…’
Don’t go totally off topic (if you ONLY talk about your favorite hobby, they will wonder if you have any interest in working) but weave in that stuff that makes youyouthat didn’t make it on the paper. They may not ask you these questions, but ask yourself, and know the answers because these are good things to talk about–
- What motivates you?
- What energizes you?
- What do you wish you were doing more of? Less of?
- What are you passionate about?
- What brings you joy?
- What does a good day at work look like? What will you have accomplished?
- What working environment excites you?
- How do you communicate?
- How do you know you’ve done a good job?
- What was your favorite day of work/school in the past year - what made it so? What about your least favorite?
As an exercise, going through these questions can help you better understand what you're looking for in an ideal work environment, and will also help you with the next tip, which is...
8. Ask them questions
This shows interest and engagement and honestly, you are interviewing them too! Have at least one question ready – but better to have around 3 in case they answer it for you preemptively. If such things are absolutely make or break for you, it's okay to ask about things like benefits and schedules, but ideally save those for a recruiter or HR, not a hiring manager. Otherwise, try to focus on the role, company, and team. Questions that have helped me in the past:
- What do you enjoy most about working/studying here?
- What does a typical project look like? A typical work week?
- What are some successes the department has had?
- What is the biggest challenge you think someone in this role will experience?
- What does someone on this team really need to excel at in order to be be successful?
- What's the working environment and culture like?
- (for manager) Could you tell me a bit about your leadership style?
- If you were interviewing for this role, what questions would you ask?
- What's the most important thing for someone in this role to do in order to support you (the interviewer) in your role?
9. Let your interviewer talk
Listen! Listen when they answer, listen when they ask, listen when they talk. It’s easy to get caught up in thinking about your scenarios or how you have to answer or how much you want this – and you’ll miss something. Take it one question at a time. So often we fall prey to the bad habit of thinking about what we're going to say next instead of listening to what someone else is saying now, especially when we're nervous about making a good first impression. Another reason why it's worth practicing potential answers ahead of time, so you're not tempted to try and craft them when you should be soaking in information.
10. Smile, you did it!
Thank your interviewer, and then take (another) deep breath.
If it was a total disaster, hey, you have a new ‘tell me about a time you failed’ answer, with the spin of ‘I learned a lot to help me work through the nerves and prepare for the next time’.
Happy interviewing!
